Moe Amery

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Moe Amery
Moe AMERY - MLA for Calgary East (4996512481).jpg
MLA for Calgary-East
In office
June 15, 1993 – May 5, 2015
Preceded byNew district
Succeeded byRobyn Luff
Personal details
Born (1954-09-20) September 20, 1954 (age 67)
Lebanon
Political partyProgressive Conservative
Spouse(s)Mary
Children5 (including Mickey Amery)
ResidenceCalgary, Alberta
Occupationrealtor

Moe Amery (né Amiri; September 20, 1954) is a former member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, who represented the constituency of Calgary-East as a Progressive Conservative.

Early life[]

Amery was born Moe Amiri (he changed his name sometime between 1989 and 1993)[1] in Lebanon on September 20, 1954, and came to Canada in 1974.[2] He studied at the University of Alberta from 1975 until 1977, after which time he relocated to Calgary to become a realtor until his election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in 1993.[2]

Provincial Politics[]

Electoral record[]

Amery's first two bids for elected office were unsuccessful; he sought provincial election in Calgary-Forest Lawn in the 1986 and 1989 elections, but was defeated both times, finishing second to New Democrat Barry Pashak each time.[3] He was more successful in 1993, when he more than doubled Pashak's vote count in the newly formed Calgary-East.[3] He was handily re-elected in each of the 1997, 2001, 2004, and 2008 elections.[3]

Legislative initiatives[]

In 1994, Amery introduced two different bills called the Maintenance Enforcement Amendment Act.[4] The first, a private member's bill, would have made it impossible for individuals in arrears on child support payments to register their vehicles or renew their drivers' licenses. The second, a government bill, included the objectives of the first, but also took other measures, including ending a provision by which money held in a joint bank account could not be drawn upon to satisfy child support payments owed by one of the account-holders.[5] The government bill passed with the support of the Progressive Conservatives and some Liberals, including Sine Chadi and Michael Henry.[5][6] Other Liberals - including Gary Dickson, Debby Carlson, Bettie Hewes, Mike Percy, Percy Wickman, Ken Nicol, Nicholas Taylor, and Colleen Soetaert - opposed the bill on the grounds that it didn't go far enough in taking measures to recover payments, promoted animosity in an already adversarial process, and was written with insufficient consultation with the recently privatized registries centres.[5][6][7] After the government bill passed, the private member's bill was ruled redundant by Speaker Stanley Schumacher.[8]

Amery has introduced a number of private member's bills designed to extend primary education to include kindergarten, requiring school boards to provide it and making attendance compulsory. The first two of these - both called the School Amendment Act, sponsored in 1995 and 1997 - failed to reach second reading before the legislature adjourned.[9][10] Amery's third attempt, the School (Early Childhood Services) Amendment Act, was defeated on second reading.[11] Liberals were unanimous in their support of the bill, pointing to similar bills that had previously been sponsored by Liberal MLAs Grant Mitchell and Michael Henry.[12][13][14][15] Several of Amery's Progressive Conservative Colleagues, including Mary O'Neill,[12][13] Albert Klapstein,[14] and Wayne Cao,[14] also lent their support.[15] However, the bill was defeated on second reading with a majority of the P.C. caucus voting against.[15] Victor Doerksen, the only Conservative to speak in opposition to the bill, expressed concern that instituting mandatory attendance at the kindergarten level constituted an infringement on parental autonomy.[13] New Democrat Raj Pannu, the only member of his caucus present for the vote, also opposed the bill, on the grounds that it would allow private groups to provide kindergarten with the approval of the Minister of Learning.[13][15]

In 1996, Amery sponsored the Wildlife Amendment Act,[16] a government bill that created a scientific committee to make recommendations on the designation of endangered and threatened species, expanded fish and wildlife agents' abilities to check for infractions of firearms regulations by hunters, and downloaded several government powers that had previously resided with the Lieutenant Governor by Order in Council to the Minister of Environmental Protection.[17] Some Liberals, including Duco Van Binsbergen and Bruce Collingwood, raised concerns that the bill didn't go far enough,[18][19] but it was passed into law.[16]

Committee duties[]

Amery has sat on numerous committees since being elected. In addition to his regular responsibilities as an MLA, he has served as chair of the Environmental Protection Advisory Committee and co-chair of the Secondary Suites Committee as well as a member of the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing, the Standing Committee on Private Bills, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, the Standing Committee on Government Services, the Standing Policy Committee on Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, the Standing Policy Committee on Energy and Sustainable Development, and the Cabinet Policy Committee on Community Services in addition to serving as a member of the International Governance Office Advisory Committee, the Glenbow-Museum Advisory Committee, the MLA Committee To Review Low-income Programs, and the MLA Implementation Team on the Future Selection of RHA Members. He was also the MLA representative on the City of Calgary's 2005 World Fair bid. Currently, Amery serves as a member of the Standing Committee on the Economy, the Standing Committee on Private Bills, and the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing.[2]

Political views[]

Amery has broken with his party on several occasions regarding issues that mattered to his constituents. In March 2006 he was critical of the Ralph Klein government for insufficiently funding school maintenance after the roof of a school in his riding collapsed.[20] In 2007 and during the 2008 election campaign, he advocated rent controls to deal with the tight housing market in urban Alberta, although the position of the Ed Stelmach government was that they would be unhelpful.[21]

Passport incident[]

In 2002, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police began investigating whether Amery acted as guarantor for the passport application of a constituent who he had not known for the required two years.[22] He was charged with doing so in 2004.[22] The case went to trial in March 2005, when Amery alleged that, by telling him not to use character references from his colleagues, P.C. whip Denis Ducharme undermined "Amery's ability to make full answer and defence".[23] The charges were ultimately stayed.[21]

Federal Politics[]

In December 2017, Amery announced that he would challenge sitting Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai for the nomination in Calgary Forest Lawn.[24]

Personal life[]

Amery is married to Mary, and the couple has five children: Mickey, Lila, Leena, Laura, and Malaak. Mickey was elected as the Member of the Alberta Legislature in the 2019 election in the riding of Calgary-Cross.[2] He has been involved in his community, including the community associations in Calgary-East.[2] He identifies Winston Churchill as his political hero.[25]

Election results[]

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1986 Alberta general election: Calgary-Forest Lawn
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Barry Pashak 2,492 35.86% 24.57%
Progressive Conservative Moe Amiri 2,410 34.68% -39.45%
Liberal Gene Czaprowski 1,111 15.99% 13.59%
Independent Mikey Graham 271 3.90% –
Representative Douglas Williams 237 3.41% –
Independent Gerald K. Lee 224 3.22% –
Independent Dorothy Bohdan 109 1.57% –
Independent Jim Othen 67 0.96% –
Communist Bruce Potter 28 0.40% -0.02%
Total 6,949 – –
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 26 – –
Eligible electors / Turnout 22,614 30.84% -19.91%
New Democratic gain from Progressive Conservative Swing -30.83%
Source(s)
Source: "Calgary-Forest Lawn Official Results 1986 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
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1989 Alberta general election: Calgary-Forest Lawn
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Barry Pashak 3,994 44.14% 8.28%
Progressive Conservative Moe Amiri 3,177 35.11% 0.43%
Liberal Gene Czaprowski 1,584 17.50% 1.52%
Independent Jim Othen 294 3.25% 2.29%
Total 9,049 – –
Rejected, Spoiled and Declined 25 – –
Eligible electors / Turnout 23,968 37.86% 7.02%
New Democratic hold Swing 3.92%
Source(s)
Source: "Calgary-Forest Lawn Official Results 1989 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
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1993 Alberta general election: Calgary-East
Party Candidate Votes %
Progressive Conservative Moe Amery 5,503 54.48%
New Democratic Barry Pashak 2,306 22.83%
Liberal Dale Muti 1,689 16.72%
Social Credit Lera Shirley 366 3.62%
Independent Alain Horchower 237 2.35%
Total 10,101
Rejected, spoiled and declined 34
Eligible electors / Turnout 20,638 49.11%
Source: "Calgary-East Official Results 1993 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
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1997 Alberta general election: Calgary-East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Moe Amery 4,857 60.19% 5.71%
Liberal Kelly McDonnell 1,990 24.66% 7.94%
Social Credit Raymond Hurst 613 7.60% 3.98%
New Democratic Marg Elliot 609 7.55% −15.28%
Total 8,069
Rejected, spoiled and declined 56
Eligible electors / Turnout 21,214 38.30%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing 6.83%
Source: "1997 General Election". Elections Alberta. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
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2001 Alberta general election: Calgary-East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Moe Amery 6,038 70.82% 10.63%
Liberal Brendan Dunphy 2,010 23.58% −1.08%
New Democratic Giorgio Cattabeni 328 3.85% −3.70%
Social Credit Alan Schoonover 109 1.28% −2.70%
Communist Jason Devine 41 0.47%
Total 8,526
Rejected, spoiled and declined 75
Eligible electors / Turnout 20,509 41.94%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing 5.86%
Source: "Calgary-East Official Results 2001 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
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2004 Alberta general election: Calgary-East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Moe Amery 4,484 53.82% −17.00%
Liberal Bill Harvey 2,357 28.29% 4.71%
Alberta Alliance Brad Berard 606 7.27%
New Democratic Paul Vargis 464 5.57% 1.72%
Green Rich Michelenko 365 4.38%
Communist Bonnie Devine 56 0.67% 0.20%
Total 8,332
Rejected, spoiled and declined 102
Eligible electors / Turnout 22,759 37.06%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing −10.86%
Source: "Calgary-East Statement of Official Results 2004 Alberta general election" (PDF). Elections Alberta. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
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2008 Alberta general election: Calgary-East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Moe Amery 4,583 53.85% 0.03%
Liberal Bill Harvey 2,433 28.59% 0.30%
Wildrose Alliance Mike McCraken 681 8.00% 0.73%
New Democratic Christopher Dovey 425 4.99% 0.58%
Green Ross Cameron 333 3.91% −0.47%
Communist Bonnie Devine 55 0.66% −0.01%
Total 8,510
Rejected, spoiled and declined 72
Eligible electors / Turnout 28,616 29.99%
Progressive Conservative hold Swing 0.17%
Source: The Report on the March 3, 2008 Provincial General Election of the Twenty-seventh Legislative Assembly. Elections Alberta. 28 July 2008. pp. 190–193.
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2012 Alberta general election: Calgary-East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Moe Amery 5,929 45.59% −8.26%
Wildrose Jesse Minhas 4,995 38.41% +30.41%
New Democratic Robyn Luff 1,135 8.73% +3.74%
Liberal Ali Abdulbaki 780 6.00% −22.59%
Communist Bonnie Devine 166 1.28% +0.62%
Total 13,005
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2015 Alberta general election: Calgary-East
Party Candidate Votes %
New Democratic Robyn Luff 5,506 39.2
Progressive Conservative Moe Amery 3,971 28.3
Wildrose Ali Waissi 3,633 25.9
Liberal Naser Al-Kukhun 806 5.7
Communist Bonnie Devine 138 1.0
Total valid votes 14,054
Rejected, spoiled and declined 133
Turnout 14,187 41.0
Eligible voters 34,585
Source: Elections Alberta[26]

References[]

  1. ^ "Politics1 Canada:Moe Amery". Archived from the original on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Amery's Legislative Assembly of Alberta biography". Archived from the original on 5 October 2006. Retrieved 15 September 2014.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ a b c "Alberta's past election results". Retrieved 6 March 2008.
  4. ^ "Bill Status Report for the 23rd Legislature - 2nd Session (1994)" (PDF). Retrieved 14 March 2008.
  5. ^ a b c "Government Bills and Orders, Second Reading – Bill 22: Maintenance Enforcement Amendment Act, 1994" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 19 April 1994. p. 1308.
  6. ^ a b "Government Bills and Orders, Second Reading – Bill 22 Maintenance Enforcement Amendment Act, 1994" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 11 May 1994. p. 1907.
  7. ^ "Government Bills and Orders, Second Reading – Bill 22: Maintenance Enforcement Amendment Act, 1994" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 4 May 1994. p. 1724.
  8. ^ "Oral Question Period – Speaker's Ruling: Deleting Item from Order Paper" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 26 October 1994. p. 2601.
  9. ^ "Bill Status Report for the 23rd Legislature - 3rd Session (1995)" (PDF). Retrieved 14 March 2008.
  10. ^ "Bill Status Report for the 24th Legislature - 1st Session (1997)". Archived from the original on 3 August 2007. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
  11. ^ "Bill Status Report for the 24th Legislature - 3rd Session (1999)". Archived from the original on 3 August 2007. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
  12. ^ a b "Public Bills and Orders Other than Government Bills and Orders, Second Reading – Bill 205: School (Early Childhood Services) Amendment Act, 1999" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 13 April 1999. p. 960.
  13. ^ a b c d "Public Bills and Orders Other than Government Bills and Orders, Second Reading – Bill 205: School (Early Childhood Services) Amendment Act, 1999" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 20 April 1999. p. 1116.
  14. ^ a b c "Public Bills and Orders Other than Government Bills and Orders, Second Reading – Bill 205: School (Early Childhood Services) Amendment Act, 1999" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 21 April 1999. p. 1175.
  15. ^ a b c d "Public Bills and Orders Other than Government Bills and Orders, Second Reading – Bill 205: School (Early Childhood Services) Amendment Act, 1999" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 27 April 1999. p. 1279.
  16. ^ a b "Bill Status Report for the 23rd Legislature - 3rd Session (1996)". Archived from the original on 3 August 2007. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
  17. ^ "Government Bills and Orders, Second Reading – Bill 42: Wildlife Amendment Act, 1996" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 14 May 1996. p. 1842.
  18. ^ "Government Bills and Orders, Second Reading – Bill 42: Wildlife Amendment Act, 1996" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 14 May 1996. p. 1851.
  19. ^ "Government Bills and Orders, Second and Third Readings – Bill 42: Wildlife Amendment Act, 1996" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Alberta. 22 May 1996. pp. 2061, 2090.
  20. ^ Fekete, Jason (27 March 2006). "Klein faces murky future: Premier's party ready to vote on his record". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
  21. ^ a b Myers, Sean (4 March 2008). "Amery hails PC mandate". Calgary Herald. Archived from the original on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
  22. ^ a b "Alberta MLA denies committing passport offence". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  23. ^ "Alberta politician alleges political meddling in court case". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 31 March 2005. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  24. ^ "Former PC MLA Amery takes on Obhrai in battle for federal Conservative nomination". 20 December 2017.
  25. ^ "Calgary candidate profiles, Alberta election 2008". Calgary Sun. Archived from the original on 4 March 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
  26. ^ "2015 Provincial General Election Results". Elections Alberta. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
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